Science Ambassador Lecturer Biography
Surveillance and Epidemiology
This session highlighted the definition of surveillance, the public health importance of birth defects, and an example of a birth defects surveillance system, CDC’s Metropolitan Atlanta Congenital Defects Program (MACDP). MACDP uses surveillance to monitor changes in birth defect occurrences in Atlanta, Georgia, over time. It works to provide early warnings of new environmental agents that could cause birth defects, information on birth defects trends for further research, feedback on interventions to decrease the number of birth defects, and tools for other surveillance systems to model and use.
Jim Kucik, MPH
Jim Kucik is a health scientist with the Birth Defects Surveillance Team of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD). He received a master’s degree in public health with a focus in epidemiology from Emory University. Atlanta, Georgia, in 2001. In his 3 years with NCBDDD, Jim has conducted research that investigates trends and causes of birth defects and has explored racial disparities in the occurrence of birth defects. Also, he contributes to the administration of CDC’s MACDP birth defects’ surveillance system. In his spare time, he enjoys pushing his 15-month-old around on his tricycle.
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Page Last Modified: January 25, 2006
